I lifted the lantern to take a closer look. After giving the floating debris time to settle, the appearance of the nest became much clearer.

It was purple, sprouting with something like crimson veins, and had a somewhat smooth shape.

That is to say, it felt like an egg cleanly sliced in half? Just a bit thicker, with veins that stood out a bit more.

It wasn't as disgusting as spilling one's guts in a gory sense, but it still wasn't exactly a pleasant sight.

Feeling a tickling sensation in my right arm, I first cut away the surrounding plants again.

To examine the nest more closely, it seemed necessary to take care of the rest of the plants. Plus, I didn't know what effect this pill would have on the nest.

However, right after planting the pill, the plants withered, but the nest showed no special reaction. It was the same even when I poked it with my sword.

I gathered my courage and brought my hand to it, but there was only a lukewarm... slightly unpleasant warmth. The texture itself felt like layers of tree stems stacked and hardened.

I stared at it quietly before coming to a conclusion.

'I thought it was a side quest, but it turned out to be the main quest for this region, huh?'

'Yeah, no wonder a quest was thrust upon me even when I didn't step up to accept one. Not that it's too surprising, considering there are games out there where you start off delivering a necklace and end up saving the world on the side.'

CRACK!

Anyway, a specimen is important.

I tore off a small piece of the nest in case of an emergency. Tearing the whole thing off might make future investigations difficult, so I intended to submit only a portion.

Of course, the whole thing might be needed... but who knows? The Mages might need to see its original state.

Better to make two trips than regret it later. With that mindset, I tore off a fragment and held it in my hand.

'The quest window used to be really good at giving directions for things like this.' It was then that a hint of regret crossed my mind.

"Whoa! He came up!"

"I-I'm sorry! I forgot to give you the stone!"

Did I steadily make my way back up to the lake's surface anyway?

I caught sight of a group of Mages who had been trying to submerge someone. I had no idea what they were talking about with the stone either.

"Check this."

I ignored their nonsense and threw the piece of the nest I had cut off. The scrambling Mages caught the fragment and practically had question marks popping up all over their heads.

SPLASH.

Man, even climbing up the railing is exhausting when you repeat it.

I used my arm strength to pull myself onto the bridge in one swift motion to look as graceful as possible, then shook my head. It was seriously stiff from being tangled with sand and grass leaves.

'I want to wash up. I know I'll get clean anyway, but I want to wash my clothes too. I want to wash them with fabric softener so they leave a nice scent.'

A desire for cleanliness briefly washed over me.

"... Adventurer, where on earth did you get this item?"

Meanwhile, the Mages asked me with serious faces. My eyes narrowed into slits as I combed through my hair with my fingers.

"You can't be asking because you lack a brain."

"...!!"

They must have been hoping to deny reality, but yes, I brought this from the bottom of the lake.

I walked over to the remaining railing and plopped down. It was absolutely not because I was tired, but because my intuition told me I would have to go back in.

'Of course, whether it's guiding them, making me pull the whole thing out, or whatever else, there's no way they'd manage without my help.'

"R-Report this immediately!"

However, I had no idea why the Mages had gotten so serious. Just what exactly was that—

"A demon nest has appeared!"

'Oh.'

"This is an unexpected problem."

Fierce White Wind, who had rushed outside immediately, spoke softly. Her normally smiling face had gone beyond cold and looked completely bleached of emotion. She looked like the marionette she had used in the reception room.

"Raise the barrier."

"Yes."

At White Wind's command, the Mages began setting up a barrier. The barrier covering the Magic Tower and a portion of the lake was enormous, but thanks to the large number of Mages mobilized, it didn't take long.

"Did the Hero return to the Temple?"

"Whether it's fortunate or unfortunate... He'd probably know more about this than me. I wonder if we could sneak him out without the Hero noticing."

Saying so, White Wind approached me.

"I'm really sorry, but could you take me back to where this was found? For reference, I'm not a good swimmer, so we'll need to tie ourselves together with a rope."

It was an expected request. Having taken a short rest, my body smoothly rose and approached the water.

"I don't want to get wet, though."

"G-Great Sage!"

"We will go in your place!"

"Yeah, no. I'll go. What would you guys know? Just call the guy who went to the Temple instead. Without the Temple people knowing, and make absolutely sure the Hero can't follow. Got it?"

White Wind took off most of the clothes she was wearing and handed them over to her surroundings. I thought she would make an air bubble or something to go down, but it seemed even a Mage had no tricks for something like this.

SPLASH!

Soon enough, White Wind and my figures submerged beneath the lake.

"This is troubling, so troubling."

For the record, even if she couldn't surround her entire body with air, it seemed she could make air bubbles around her nose and mouth to act as a substitute for a breathing apparatus.

After observing the nest for a long time, White Wind spoke through the air bubble over her mouth instead of a machine.

In an act of unexpected kindness, she had done the exact same thing for me. Not that I had much to say anyway.

"It's truly a troubling matter that stagnant mana didn't just turn into demonic energy, but went as far as creating a demon."

"... What did you just say?"

'Let me correct that. A topic that gave me something to say just came up.'

"Why are you acting so surprised now? You're the living proof of this."

'Me? Why am I the living proof?'

I narrowed my eyes in bewilderment before suddenly realizing it.

The cause of the current situation seemed to be that mana had turned into demonic energy... but I was the prime example of the exact opposite. That is, I was someone who converted demonic energy into mana to use as easily as eating a meal.

'Which means...?'

"If demonic energy can become mana, there's no reason the reverse couldn't be true. Even though we knew that, we've always treated that possibility as if it didn't exist."

'Oh my god. So that was it.'

"More importantly, I don't know what will happen now. Beyond just mana turning into demonic energy, if news spreads that it even birthed a demon, some Mages will definitely cross the line. If that happens, will the Magic Tower be able to coexist with the Temple?"

Meanwhile, White Wind brushed back her hair, which was fluttering in the water. It wasn't of much use.

"... Well, I suppose there's no point in asking you about such a problem. You're not a Mage, and if it weren't for the troublemakers living parasitically in your body, you wouldn't have even been involved in this side of things."

It sounded akin to venting. Just as White Wind said, I... didn't know much about these issues. Much more than she expected.

So even though I wanted to ask questions, I couldn't even find what to ask. I kept my mouth shut and just maintained the mood.

"Let's resolve this first. Since this is on the roof of the main building... we should reinforce that wall and then tear this whole thing out."

But that was that, and this was this.

We couldn't ignore the immediate crisis just to worry about the future. We selected what we could do and took action right away.

It was the task of firmly preparing the inside of the building so water wouldn't leak in during the process of carving out the nest, and then tearing the nest off.

Perhaps because it was such an urgent matter, all the labor was finished in an hour. In the process, I had to go back and forth between the inside and outside of the lake two more times, but that wasn't a major issue.

"White Wind, I've heard the gist of the story. What in the world is this..."

And around that time, the Archmage arrived in a hurry. Her clothes were a mess, as if she had struggled quite a bit making her way down here from the top in the middle of the night.

"... This is."

Pushing through the high-ranking Mages, the Archmage's gaze fell upon the nest. As if she realized its identity at once, her face hardened.

"You managed to come alone?"

"Ah, the Temple let it slide when I said it was research-related. But that's not what's important right now."

"No, it is important. How do you think the Temple will react if they find out? You knew that too, which is why you abandoned the research you dedicated your whole life to, didn't you?"

"..."

'Huh, abandoned her life's research? Oh, so the Archmage had a backstory too...?'

I tried to recall the Mage's personal story. The Mage's character quest... aside from being profound, there wasn't really anything special about it. It just split your advancement class depending on whether your thirst for knowledge won or your morals won.

"... Let's put that conversation off for later. I'm not the only one here right now."

"Right. Because what's important right now isn't what happens after the incident, but how we're going to end this incident."

My eyes spun around in circles at the lore drops bursting out left and right.

'A quest I thought was nothing is connecting to the lore of the world and the character's secret backstory! Guaaah!'

"First, we need to find out what hatched from the nest. And we'll need to kill it or capture it alive. Only then can we cover it up, report it, or do anything else."

'And I'll be the one taking on the role of the hunter, I bet.'

Even while my head was spinning, I accurately caught the details of the quest that would pop up next.

It was the intuition of an ordinary gamer. My many years of gaming experience weren't so shallow that I couldn't predict things just because a system window had vanished.

"Judging by the lingering scent of demonic energy, it hasn't been long since it hatched. However, you know, right? I specialize in skill development, so I'm terrible at actual combat. As for my kids, the ones who can handle tracking magic are all terrible at combat too..."

"... Right. I will handle this."

"Great. I'm counting on you, okay?"

Furthermore, it seemed the companion assigned for this quest would be the Archmage.

However, since the Inquisitor couldn't know, she would naturally be excluded from accompanying us. Mobilizing everyone else while only excluding the Inquisitor would look funny, so I probably wouldn't be able to bring DeB and the Berserker either.

Leaving aside acting separately right after the Berserker joined, it was just me and the Archmage. This was another new combination.

I wondered if the game was throwing her a bone now because she had no screen time in the previous quests.

"Let's ask the Demon Knight too. I'll even write up an additional contract."

Well, it didn't matter who accompanied me. I signed the contract for four million gal, and set off immediately to facilitate an easy tracking process.

Neither the Archmage nor I were in great physical condition, but it couldn't be helped. How could we rest when they said the traces of demonic energy would completely vanish if we dragged this out any longer?

"This direction is toward the Great Forest..."

More importantly, is it for real that I have to dive underwater again? Similar to when I was with White Wind, I tied the Archmage and myself together with a rope, scoured the bottom of the lake, and chased after the demon's trail.

For the first time in a while, the fluorescent tracking magic shined.

"So there was a cave here. In this case, it really... might have crossed over to the Great Forest. It'd be great if it didn't enter the territory of the forest's residents."

As a result, we discovered a cave that I hadn't seen when I was removing the plants. The stones were placed in a way that covered the hole, making it a path I had completely missed.

"Is it this way?"

"Have you gone blind just because one light went out?"

"What can I do when my eyes are getting dim at this age?"

"... Tsk."

"Thanks for turning on the light."

We moved inside wearing specially crafted underwater breathing tools that allowed us to converse.

The Archmage was bulkier than me but couldn't swim, which made it somewhat of a struggle, but surprisingly, it was better than outside.

When it was entirely water, I had to pull her, but inside the cave, we could at least grab onto the rugged walls to move forward.

"The water is very cold. I should have brought more stones."

However, after going in like that for a long while, the Archmage complained of the cold. Taking off her temperature-regulating robe because she hadn't cast a waterproofing spell on it seemed to have taken a huge toll.

"How weak."

'More importantly, is this cold? It just feels lukewarm to me.'

'Or maybe it's because I've been soaking in the lake for too long? Then again, I didn't even have the impression of it being cold right from the start.'

Regardless, it would be a disaster if our precious manpower got sick. I held out a stone meant to be used as a hot pack to the Archmage.

Of course, the Archmage, a Mage, had a higher chance of catching a cold than me, a warrior. She was older, too, and always provided backup for us.

It was a bit annoying that her nagging had become excessive lately, but I knew that even that stemmed from a place of worry.

I might feel fed up with it, but I wasn't ignorant of her goodwill, so how could I not hand over a single stone like this?

"Are you not cold?"

"If we lose the demon, you will be the one feeling cold."

'Ah, just take it, elder.'

I spouted whatever came to mind and swam further inside. The hole, which had been getting narrower just a moment ago, began widening again after we passed the tightest section. It was even sloping upward.

SPLASH.

At last, a place that met with the air appeared.

It was a good thing I came in wearing combat boots this time. I tried to ignore the sloshing water inside my shoes and inspected the cave.

I could feel a breeze, albeit a weak one. It was proof that it was connected to the outside.

"Was it connected to the outside?"

Behind me, the Archmage came up, splashing through the water. I could briefly see her body shivering violently, as if she was still cold despite wrapping herself in the hot pack.

"Hold on, give me some time to wring out the water."

'Of course. By all means.'

While the Archmage was wringing out her clothes and fur, I examined the traces more closely.

The marks highlighted in fluorescent colors by the magic stretched on endlessly. It looked as if... a sack had been dragged, or a snake had slithered by.

"... Is it a snake?"

Since there was no way it could be a sack, it was definitely the latter. Looking at the thickness, it seemed to be a massive one... Wow. I think I roughly know the reason why the snakes swarmed here. Ahaha.

"Hmm? Ah. I see. Then I also know the reason it could come out of the water. It seems the demon has taken the form of a snake."

'No, actually, it's not funny. It's way too big!! Does it make sense for its width to be the size of my waist!?'

'This isn't on the level of a giant water snake, it's a gigaaaantic water snake!'

Barely hiding my disgusted expression, I untied the rope around my waist, took my coat out of my inventory, and put it on. It was time to give chase in earnest.